GOOD AND BAD POINTS OF CATTLE, &C. 



119 



animal shows contentment, a very desirable 

 omen as to the quick growth of the animal; 

 while, on the contrary, a heavj- eye, with a want 

 of vivacity, with thick eyelids, and a too visible 

 conjunctiva or white of the eye, is indicative of 

 an unhappy and restless temper, incompatible 

 with a good and profitable feeder. The eye of 

 contentment, of quietude, and of cahn expres- 

 sion of countenance, is alone compatible with 

 that temperament so conducive to accumulation 

 of flesh and fat. These qualities, if derived he- 

 reditarily, will he maintained throughout the 

 whole evolution of growth. They are also well- 

 known signs of early disposition to maturity. — 

 The hereditary principle should always be 

 borne in mind — the old adage of ■' like will be- 

 get like '' — whether applied to the symmetrical 

 law of external form, of quality, of temper 

 'either good or bad), of constitution, of a dispo- 

 sition to make either fat or muscle, or to any 

 other cause inherently acquired. Therefore the 

 only method to ensure those qualities %vhich are 

 3o essential to the ^yelfare of the farmer, is to 

 jommeuce primogenitively with the best and 

 most approved principles that have hitherto been 

 found to ensure a healthy and profitable stock. 



I shall now speak of bone, as being the frame- 

 work on which all the materials of the body are 

 built. It should, when examined in the living 

 animal, have the appearance of being fine and 

 small in structure. It then augurs a good quali- 

 ty and being readily disposed to fatten, although 

 it sometimes betrays too great a delicacy of con- 

 stitution. A bone may be small from a consoli- 

 dation of its structural parts, yet be capable of 

 sustaining more weight, superincumbently, than 

 bone of a larger size, and who.se size depends 

 only on the cellular expansion, and not on a cyl- 

 indrical consolidation. A large bone maintains 

 a coarse-bred animal, a dull feeder, with a torpid 

 vascular action, that oidy tardily irrigates the 

 frame with the living stream. Such animals 

 have a greater disposition to lay on more mus- 

 cular than fatty substance. 



Having concluded my observations on the ex- 

 ternal structure, relative to the propensity ani- 

 mals have of making fat, I .shall now offer a few 

 opinions on the arrangement of the internal or- 

 gans for that purpose. 



The lungs should be large ; but not occupying 

 the chest too much posteriorly : the chest capa- 

 cious, and deep anteriorly ; these being the or- 

 gans for preparing the arterial blood that nour- 

 ishes every part. 



I have also remarked, from inspection after 

 death of hundreds ot animals, that the roots of 

 the Innsrs do not diminish in size so much as 

 that portion which is in contact with the midriff 

 in the fatteninar animal : lungs over larfjre are not 

 more productive of fat than those which are of 

 a moderate size. My solution of this fact is, that 

 if the lungs occupy too much of the chest in the 

 posterior part, there is a limitation to the expan- 

 sion of the rumen, or first stomach, and the 

 animal docs not enjoy so much lengthened 

 quietude in rumination, a circumstance very 

 ef?sential to the fattening beast. This substan- 

 tiates what I have before stated. The chest 

 cannot be too deep nor jet too broad in its ante- 

 rior external conformation ; tiierefore, instead of 

 attrihulina the full, spreading, wide-ribbed chest, 

 posteriorly, as instrumental to the lungs, the 

 space for the expansion of the stomach must not 

 bo overlooked, a large digestive apparatus being 

 required for all large herbivorous animals. The 

 heart is an important organ in the animal frame, i 

 (27.^) 



It is rarely found over large in the fat animal. 

 It is the forcing pump by which the whole of 

 the body is irrigated through the arterial tubes. 

 If s>Tnmetrical organization pervades through- 

 out the animal, the chances are, that the vascular 

 action will harmonize over every part, and the 

 deposit of fat %vill equalize over tlie whole of 

 the body. On the contrary, an animal with dis- 

 proportionate parts will have a greater disposi- 

 tion to lay on muscle or fat on those parts 

 respectivelj- that have the greatest share of 

 vascular action. 



I am now proud to state some indisputable 

 fiicts. I have many times examined animals by 

 mediate auscultation, with capacious chests an- 

 teriorlj-, and the lungs duly inflating them. 

 Previous to their being stall-fed, they have, when 

 slaughtered, lungs small posteriorly. It is also 

 certain, that if an animal dies well, the lungs 

 will be found disproportionate to what they 

 must have been in the living animal. 



I do not agree with the generally received 

 opinion, nor with Dr, Lyon "Playfair, that the 

 lungs must be of necessity small when an ani- 

 mal first begins to fatten ; but, as the fattening 

 process goes on. the internal cavity of the chest 

 becomes smaller, the action of the heart weaker, 

 and the lungs dimmii?h m size in a regular gra- 

 dation from various causes ; first, from limited 

 expansion ; secondly, from absorption, and by 

 pressure of the sun-oundiug parts : and, lastly, 

 from quietude never allowing their due inflation, 

 which the act of depasturation aftbrds. 



The liver is also found small. This I consider 

 to be from absorption and internal pressure of 

 the surrounding organs. The liver has also a 

 diminished supply of intestinal and mesenteric 

 blood, from the appetite not being so vigorous, 

 and less food being eaten, as the animal grows 

 to maturity. 



I have known many animals die from ac- 

 cident, that, on inspection after death, have had 

 large lungs and livers. They were in lean con- 

 dition, but had every good quality for fattening: 

 and I have no doubt would have made prime 

 fat beasts, and whose lungs and livers probably 

 would have been smaller when slaughtered. 



I do think that Dr. Lyon Playfair is wrong in 

 the opinion, that small lungs and livers are the 

 best organs for the assimilation of food and fat. 

 I think that the reason why animals become 

 speedily fat in proportion as they approach ma- 

 turity, is from the arterial action being slow, and 

 the venous circulation impeded from the pres- 

 sure of the accumulating fat. The arterial cx- 

 halents deposit more than the venous circulation 

 can return, or their absorbents take up. Thus 

 the harmony is broken. It is a fact welJ-known, 

 that verj^ little blood of the venous kind can be 

 taken from the fat animal. From what I have 

 stated, taken collectively and in conjunction with 

 the primeval external confiimiation of the animal, 

 may be deducted those determinations which 

 tend to either the formation of fat or muscle. 



The tendency of certain articles of food to 

 fatten stock, and tlie suitability of others to keep 

 up the general growth, afford" a fruitful field for 

 inquiry, I shall begin with those that favor 

 evolution of growth, A series of substances 

 that are charged with albumen or a vegetable 

 gelatine, are nitrogenized in the maxirnum : — 

 barley, oats, peas, and beans, tbmi examples. 

 These substances, having much nutritive matter, 

 make the best food for the purpose- of general 

 growth, with the various herbivorous food for 

 the young animal ; but the more such food ap- 



